Tuesday, January 22, 2013

I have a mind blowing (well, to me, anyway) science fiction romance
connection to present, but it’s one I never anticipated blogging about in a
million trillion years. But first I need to provide important background
information.

Japanese animation was the center of my life during my teens and twenties.
That meant I notched my anime belt with VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE
when it ran on television in the 1980s. As a U.S.
resident, I only had access to the dubbed, butchered version of the show, but I
watched VOLTRON religiously during its run in my corner of the woods. It wasn’t
my favorite anime, but at the time I was itching to get my hands on any type of
Japanese fare I could find.

Voltron is the eponymous super robot
of an anime series
that features a team of Earth humans, known as the Voltron Force. The team’s
individual vehicles join together to form the giant super robot, with which
they defend the galaxy from evil. Initially produced as a joint venture between
World Events Productions and Toei
Animation, the original TV series aired in syndication from September 10, 1984 to November 18, 1985. The program was titled Voltron:
Defender of the Universe.

Better yet, here’s the show’s opening sequence:

Boy, that takes me back! In fact, a couple of weeks ago I found VOLTRON on
Netflix and watched the first episode for nostalgia’s sake. Holy guacamole—that
show was even more butchered than I remembered! In fact, it was pretty awful.
Not for the faint of heart, that’s for sure. Still, VOLTRON is one of those
shows that I will always carry with me.

Fast forward to the present: I can’t get the VOLTRON theme out of my head.
Wait, that’s not it, sorry…

In her new
science fiction romance novel “The Gems Of Zephron” (published by Trafford
Publishing), author Charlize Worthington takes readers to the alien world of
Zephron, where a prince and a princess defend their world even as they fall in
love.

Voltron, prince of Zephron, never expected to fall in love with Lyssa,
princess of Zarift. Their two worlds compete for the energy gems that power
spacecraft and weaponry, but not even opposing politics or an interplanetary
war can keep the two apart.

Did you see that? OMG! The hero’s name is Voltron. Voltron! That revelation made my eyes
bug out and my jaw drop.

First of all, I never expected to see the name of Voltron
show up anywhere other than on VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE or its spin
off shows.

Second, I was like, does the author know about the
connection? Is it an homage? Does she realize how surreal this is for me, a fan
of SFR who watched VOLTRON as a youth over and over again?

Third, I was like, "I have to blog about this news."
I’m a fan of science fiction romance and I used to watch VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF
THE UNIVERSE and now there’s a science fiction romance with a hero named
Voltron. What are the chances of that
happening in my lifetime?

You saw the VOLTRON video. If I were to read THE GEMS OF
ZEPHRON am I going to constantly picture the hero as a giant battle robot made
of mechanized lions? Oh noes!

Regardless, I had to sneak a peek. I accessed a sample of
the book via Amazon. It was REALLY WEIRD seeing “Voltron” in the text. And get
this—Voltron the robot wields a Blazing Sword during battle. Why is that
important? Early in THE GEMS OF ZEPHRON, hero Voltron draws a sword during
battle!

Is that totally epic or what?!!!!!!!!!

Okay, now that I’ve got that out of my system, the post
about Charlize Worthington’s book also included an…interesting excerpt:

“On our planet women are to be loved, cherished and protected. They do not
fight in our wars. They make us our homes and have our babies and we love them
dearly. We will kill another male who attempts to take our mates.”

Umm…I’ll let that one speak for itself.

I know—how about I make it easy for you to enjoy the first episode of
VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE? Watch the show in all of its retro 80s anime
glory—if you dare!

Joyfully yours,

Heather

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About Me: Heather travels the sea of stars for news about science fiction romance. She's also an author in the genre. To get in touch, you can email her, or follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

About Me

Heather’s debut sci-fi romance novel, Once Upon a Time in Space, features the last living descendant of Christopher Columbus on a desperate quest to find a new world. Standing in his way is Raquel, the deadliest space pirate in the galaxy.